Donald Trump gifts key White House aides up to $45,000 each
President Donald Trump gave considerable holiday gifts to four White House aides, according to new financial disclosures released by the administration.
Gifts of $45,000 each were given to executive assistant Natalie Harp, communications adviser Margo Martin, and deputy director of Oval Office operations Chamberlain Harris, along with a $20,000 gift for director of Oval Office operations Walt Nauta, as noted in the staffers’ annual financial disclosure forms published by the administration last week.
Harp, Martin, and Harris earn $150,000 annually, while Nauta is paid $175,000 a year, according to the White House’s salary disclosure report to Congress.
A White House official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, stated that Trump “has a longstanding practice of giving Christmas gifts to people in his orbit, including employees and aides at times, both in government and during his time in the private sector.”
The official did not specify if any other staffers received similar gifts from the president, but noted that the cash gifts were unrelated to the “individuals’ official government duties, and therefore are entirely permissible under relevant legal and ethical standards.”
The disclosures of the gifts were first reported on Tuesday by The Washington Post.
Harp is a constant presence at Trump’s side and is known for carrying a portable printer with her to print out favorable media coverage and social media posts for the president, who prefers reading important information on paper instead of on a screen.
Martin has been working for Trump since his first stint in the White House. She began during his first term as a White House press assistant and followed the president to Palm Beach, Florida, to help manage his media operations after he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden. She returned to the White House with Trump after his 2024 victory.
Earlier this year, Trump appointed Harris to serve on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which has oversight over the president’s White House ballroom project.
Nauta, who previously served as a valet to Trump, and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira were charged in 2023 with conspiring with Trump to obstruct an FBI investigation into classified documents that the Republican took with him when he left the White House after his first term.
The charges were dismissed in 2024.
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